GST: The President labels himself a "War President." Every other sentence he says, contains the words "war on terror". You're getting hung up on a legalism. Yes, the Constitution says very plainly, that we are not at war unless the Congress says so, and it hasn't. But, as the U.S. steadily evolves from a Republic to an Empire, one by one, bits and pieces of the Constitution get discarded. The pattern is, everything that restricts the power of the Executive, is under attack. In an Empire, there is no division of power, no checks and balances, and we go to war when the President-Emperor wants to. We are at war, when he says we are, and he has, about 10,000 times since 9/11.
Congress doesn't officially declare our wars, and we no longer officially annex the territory we actually control. This makes the exercise of unrestrained power much easier. So, for instance, the reality is, Israel is already the 51st State. In every way (military, economic, political, ideological), we are so close, and have been for so long, and Israel is so totally dependant on us, that they are part of the Empire. Sure, the Israeli Prime Minister has his own agenda, and sometimes acts at cross purposes with the Emperor. But, then, so do the Governors of the other States. When Israel makes war, or carries out terrorist campaigns (such as assassinating Palestinian leaders), it is the U.S. acting. Same thing, when our Afghan warlord allies slaughter thousands of captives. It is blood on our hands. It is war by proxy. The Nurenberg trials clearly established this principle, that those who have actual control, and give the commands, are as guilty as those who actually carry out the crime.
We are at war with "illegal combatants". This term was invented, to deliberately blur the distinctions between criminals and soldiers. An "illegal combatant" is a demon with all the worst features of enemy soldiers and criminals, and therefore it's OK to afford them none of the rights of either.
Citizen's rights to habeus corpus, and trial by jury, are going the way of Congress's power to declare war. The Padilla case (http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=19832150 and replies) shows that the President now has the power to take American citizens on American soil, and make them Disappear. No arrest, no charges, no trial. They just Go Away, at the whim of the President.
Consider the Padilla case, together with the recent statement of the Secretary of Education:
Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation’s largest teachers union a “terrorist organization” during a private White House meeting with governors on Monday.
Democratic and Republican governors confirmed Paige’s remarks about the 2.7-million-member National Education Association. “These were the words, ‘The NEA is a terrorist organization,”’ said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin. - Detroit Free Press 2/23/04
If the NEA is a terrorist organization, then are their leaders terrorists? Illegal combatants? Is it OK to Disappear them? Give them jail cells beside Padilla?
This is the way Authoritarians think. Anybody who disagrees is to be given the nastiest label possible, as a prelude to wreaking unlimited violence against them (to save the nation from internal and external enemies). |
